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News Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning star Holt McCallany about starring in the eighth installment of the popular spy film franchise. McCallany discussed why Christopher McQuarrie wanted to cast him in the movie, what it was like filming scenes with Nick Offerman and Angela Bassett, and more.

The synopsis for the movie reads, “Our lives are the sum of our choices. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning is now available on Digital.

Brandon Schreur: Holt, you’ve been in a number of different spy and espionage movies throughout your career. I’ve loved a lot of them. You were just recently in The Amateur, which I thought was great, and you worked with Tom Cruise before on Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Now you’re coming to Mission: Impossible, which is, like, arguably one of the biggest franchises right now, largely thanks to Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie. What made you most excited about joining the world of Mission: Impossible, whether it be working with Tom and Christopher or whatever it may be?

Dead McCallany: Yeah, I mean, I guess it was just the fact that it was one of the most iconic and most successful franchises in film history. That it’s been around for close to three decades. And, you know, the title of it was The Final Reckoning — I kind of understood that this was the last one. For me to get to be a part of that was really exciting for me.

I had a terrific relationship with Christopher McQuarrie. He’s a director that I really like working with. When he called to offer me the part, we just chatted for like an hour. He just gave me a lot of his time. And he said, ‘Listen, Holt, put your faith in me. Trust me. And I’m not going to let you down. You’re going to have a great experience with me.’ He had been the writer of Jack Reacher 2, so we had almost worked together, in a sense. He said, ‘Ever since that movie, I’ve wanted to work with you. Tom really wants you for this part.’ Obviously, I had worked with Tom before.

True to his word, he made it fun every single day we were together. I have just tremendous admiration for him, personally, and for his enormous talent. There are very few guys out there who are equally as good as writers and directors. He’s one of those rare guys who can do it all. A really special person and a really special writer/director.

Oh, totally. I couldn’t agree more. A lot of the conversations I’ve seen around Mission: Impossible 8 are obviously people talking about the stunts, the insane action scenes, and the whole submarine sequence. But I also loved all the sequences when it’s you, Nick Offerman, and Angela Bassett. When you’re in that bunker and having the conversations about the nuclear weapons and how to handle that whole situation; I was locked in and fascinated by all of it. Can you tell me a little about what it was like having the two of them as screen partners and how the three of you, as a trio, approached those intense conversations?

Yeah, that’s a great question. Angela is absolutely fabulous. And Nick is also a tremendously gifted, range-y kind of an actor who really brought a lot to his character. There was also a wonderful actress named Janet McTeer, who played the Secretary of State, and is an immense talent. Henry Czerny, who is a friend of mine and is solid as a rock.

I think we all sensed that we were very fortunate to be in each other’s company. And it was very fortunate that Chris and Tom had thought a lot about who they wanted to cast in these roles. Everybody brought something different. We’re all kind of very unique and very different from each other. But, as a group, we kind of melded in a way that I thought really worked for those sequences.

And, then, Christopher is a director who likes to do a lot of takes, a lot of coverage, and likes to try things many different ways, which  I think is fun and a good way to work. You discover things through that process, and you refine things. It just keeps getting better the more you to do it. Yeah, we had a great time with those scenes.

Thanks to Holt McCallany for taking the time to discuss Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.